TN: Collection of hunting accidents

A Davidson County duck hunter was fatally injured when his retriever dog
stepped on the trigger housing of a shotgun, which fired.

In a Hardeman County incident, a hunter was killed when he was mistaken
for a deer.

In Monroe County, a 14-year-old boy stalking a turkey “saw something in
the brush.” He fired one blast from a shotgun. He didn’t hit a turkey.
He hit two people.

The above summaries are included in the Hunting Accident Report, Jan.
1-Dec. 31, 2007, published by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
According to the report, there were two fatal hunting accidents in the
state in 2007 and numerous non-fatal hunting accidents. Names of the
fatalities and the locations where they died are not included in the
report.

Here are summaries of circumstances of both victims:

• Hunter No. 1. Date of accident: Nov. 1, 2007. Age: 28. He had
completed a hunter education course. Distance between muzzle and victim:
two to five yards. Cause: Careless handling. Transporting a loaded
firearm in a vehicle.
Narrative: “Victim was standing in the water tossing decoys to a hunting
partner who had remained inside the front portion of the boat. Victim’s
loaded shotgun was uncased and lying in the bottom of the rear end of
the boat. Victim’s retriever was walking around in area of the shotgun
and possibly stepped on the shotgun’s trigger. Shotgun fired through the
side of the boat and struck victim in lower abdomen.” No charges filed.

In the Monroe County incident on March 24, 2007, the 14-year-old had
gone turkey hunting with four family members. “The shooter and his
mother were stalking a gobbling turkey,” the report states. “Shooter saw
something in the brush that he incorrectly identified as a turkey’s
head. Shooter fired one shot that struck his two aunts and one cousin.”

Here are narratives of other accidents:

• In Marshall County on April 8, 2007, a 53-year-old man accidentally
shot a 28-year-old man when he mistakenly identified camouflage burlap
as the body of a turkey. “Shooter fired upon victim, striking him in the
hands, forearm and thigh,” the report states.

• In Fentress County on Nov. 17, 2007, a 17-year-old deer hunter had
returned from a hunting trip and was unloading his firearm, a rifle.
“The victim was resting the barrel of the rifle on his boot. The firearm
discharged, striking his foot.”

• In Unicoi County on Nov. 25, 2007, a 40-year-old man was deer and
bear hunting when he became lost. He began crawling through a thicket to
reach a nearby road. “(His) sidearm was holstered. However, while (he
was) crawling, the sidearm discharged, striking (him) in the upper
calf.”

Other data:

Randy Huskey, TWRA hunter education administrator, says there were 11
hunting accidents in the state in 2007. Two were fatal, nine nonfatal.
Of the 11, 10 were tree stand injuries. “No fatal tree stand accidents
were reported in 2007. In 2006, we experienced two fatal tree stand
accidents,” he said.

In Trousdale County on Oct. 5, 2007, a 41-year-old man was in a tree
stand in archery season when he fell and suffered “numerous broken
bones.” “(He) was beginning to descend the tree. (He) stepped off the
edge of stand and fell head first approximately 30 feet.”

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